The Crisis in a Nutshell: Quotes of the Week

“I would not have called that last play the way they did in that Seattle-Green Bay game last night. The Packers will wake up this morning and just sort of shake their head and say: ‘We should have won by two touchdowns.’ ” —President Bill Clinton, reacting to the N.F.L. referee lockout.

“That’s the beauty of sports and the beauty of officiating, is that there are controversial calls and people see them differently.” —N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“We have a ‘no whining’ rule in Boston about coverage in the media. We just deal with facts.” —senior Romney campaign advisor Ed Gillespie.

“I can go up on the blocks and swim in front of millions and millions of people, no problem, and perform at my best. Like, that’s easy. But getting in front of a camera and doing a little acting? That is nerve-racking.” —Ryan Lochte, on training for Hollywood.

“We’ve been warning about this for years. Now that we are talking about bacon, we’ve really got everyone’s attention.” —Steve Meyer, adviser to the National Pork Producers Council, on the world shortage of bacon predicted for next year.

“I think we have a very clear path to victory, and, apparently, Claire McCaskill thinks we do, too, because she was very aggressive at the debate, which was quite different than it was when she ran against Jim Talent. She had a confidence and was much more ladylike, but in the debate on Friday she came out swinging, and I think that’s because she feels threatened.” —Representative Todd Akin.

“Senator Brown has spoken to his entire staff—including the individuals involved in this unacceptable behavior—and issued them their one and only warning that this type of conduct will not be tolerated.” —Spokesperson for Senator Scott Brown, on the mocking use of Native American “war whoops” at campaign events.

“We had to have a self-imposed Michele Bachmann quota in some of those debates.” —Associated Press editor Jim Drinkard, on fact-checking candidates in the Republican primary debates.

“We had a bit of a falling out, I think we are getting over that. We interfered in your politics two hundred years ago when we sailed up the river and burnt the White House.” —David Cameron, discussing British history with David Letterman.